Arizona silver belt. [volume] (Globe City, Pinal County, Ariz.) 1878-19??, 1887-01-22
THE NEeRo's eLAcKNEs8.
Reasons oaered for the Color Of ths AZ,
rican's sEin--A Puzziing Question

Reasons oasrsd for the Color Of the AZ
rican's skin--A Puzztiag ouostlon
This question has puzzled all the phys,
biologists who have given it any amount
Of thought, Not only are human beings
black or dark in hot climates, bus other
resembling animals vary ia like man
ner. Pigs are $50 far as I have seem In
variably black in hot climates, Blutnen-
bath included this variation among the
Resemblance OF pigs to ourselves. II
we expose two surfaces similar in all re-
spects hnt color TO the glare Of the sun,
the black becomes the hotter and other
cotors graduate according 10 their De.
grces Of darkness on 80 white, which ID
the least heated. Fraaklin's celebrated
experiment q placing pieces 81 different
colored cloth on the snow while the sun
was shining ana observing the depth %
which they respectively sunk in tbs
STOW illustrates this very siriklngly.
According to tbis black skin should be
specially unfit for cuGuriag the fierce m,
d,ation Of the tropical sun. Many speeu-
lations, solns rather fiu-fetched and
pedantic, have been offered % account
for this apparent paradox; but the only
satisfactory one / have met with was
suggested lItely by a correspondent %
Nature. he states good reasons for Pc,
lieving that the penetration Of light
through the skin 70 tho internal organs
Of the body Il injurious, aud he further
suggests that such penetration may oc-
Gun 70 a considerable extent uIlloss special
provision is made against il. 0he Of my
schoolboy experiments was to shut my
SELF up in win2owless storeroon, the
side 81 which was freely exposed to Che
sun, and then place my hand over the
keyhole or cyevice OF the door. Sniff
cient light passed through 10 illuminate
my hand, especially the fingers and show
therein the position of the bones. 1 bars
not repeated it since my hand has be-
come full grown and therefore can not
say whether il Is slill as translucent as
then.
1t has lately been proposed 70 examine
the stomach BY causing the patient To
swallow an electric lamp, whiCh Will
illuminate it sufficiently TO show some
thing of its condition through tic iu-
teguments. | say proposed, but suspect
that tho lamp ii too hot, The carbon
layer in the rete mucosuin Of the negro,
being opaque like other forms Of carbon,
must form an elTectual veil and thus
protect that most important organ be-
low, the cults vera, or true skin, O
bodily envelope Of yaCcular tissue, pre-
senting vast surface OF circulating
blood, which Is certainly subject tJ
brilliant illumination when only pro.
tectod from sunlight by The thin translu-
cent cuticle
We know that sunlight has consider,
able chemical energy and also that sun.
stroke, to which light complexiohed pso
pie arc especially liable, is Inore de-
pendent on light than on mere tempera-
ture; and, such being tile case, the valat
Of an effective veil or screen extending
over the whole Of Che body may DO ver
great, even though accompanied wiJ
considerable absorption o. heat aH.
roasting Of thg cutiele, which i5 mst
inseusiblo. The shading effect q tls
blackncss Is, n fact, due To the coavrr
sion 81 light into heat -1lattiet w il
li9ms ia Gentetnan4 Magazine,
as git4stf